Page 4 of I Am the Storm

"Focus on my voice. Focus on my hands on your face."

His hands do feel good, and his voice is deep and rhythmic. Calming.

Finally, I use the tools I have learned over the years to manage my anxiety attacks. I focus on my senses. On identifying and counting things I can see, taste, touch, smell, hear.

And then I feel it.

Welling up within me.

My power.

I close my eyes.

Water. We need water. I put everything I am into that thought, that feeling of covering the earth with water.

Thunder breaks through the sky.

Wind whips around us.

And then…

The rain falls.

I open my eyes, and see Sebastian looking at me in wonder. "Did you do that?" he asks, looking up at the sky.

"I think I did."

His eyes widen in awe, and he caresses my cheek. "You're incredible."

I put my hand on his and smile. "Thank you for helping me. Now, let's go find our family."

The rain continues to pour, a storm building around us. It's not enough to put out the flames entirely, but it's helping.

I call out for Derek, for Liam, for Lily. I look around for Elijah. Where is everyone?

We reach the origin of the explosion, a shattered clock and a crater in the earth, and I suck in a sob. How could anyone survive this? "Liam had Alina with him," I say in despair.

Sebastian squeezes my hand. "He'll protect her. She's part fire Druid, remember. Flames can't hurt them."

I let out my breath. I hadn't thought of that. But…"Falling rubble can," I say.

We jog along the edges of the flames, and I spot a familiar shoe sticking out from part of the collapsed stone structure. "Sebastian!" I scream, pointing.

It’s Derek. Face paler than usual. Eyes glazed over. His head and feet the only part of him visible from beneath the rubble. I rush to his side. Start lifting away rocks. One is too heavy for me. My hands are cut and bleeding, but my tears aren't from pain but rather fear. Every moment he's trapped could be a moment too late.

And then a large pillar begins to rise on its own, floating into the air and landing beside me with a hard thud.

I turn to stare at Sebastian, whose forest green eyes are wide with awe. His hands are raised, and I can feel the power emanating from them.

"That was you, wasn’t it?" I ask.

He nods.

I stand back as he makes quick work of the rest of the debris, until there's nothing left trapping Derek. I clutch the vampire in my arms. His body is broken, bloodied, and unnaturally still. "No!" I yell.

The flames rage around us, but I don’t care. All of my focus is on the unconscious vampire in front of me.

Smoke chokes me as I tilt his head to give him CPR, compressing his chest just as I learned in the classes Adam and I took together when he first got his diagnosis.

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